| Lance Franklin | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lance 'Buddy' Franklin, Jr. | |
| Date of Birth | 30 January 1987 | |
| Place of Birth | Perth[1] | |
| Recruited from | Perth Football Club | |
| Draft | 5th overall, 2004 Hawthorn |
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| Height/Weight | 196cm / 101kg | |
| Position | Centre Half Forward, Full Forward | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Hawthorn | |
| Number | 23 | |
| Playing career1 | ||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) |
| 2005 – | Hawthorn | 81 (238) |
| ¹ Playing statistics to end of 2008 season. | ||
| State team honours | ||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) |
| 2008 | Dream Team | 1 (4) |
| Career highlights | ||
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Lance "Buddy" Franklin, Jr. (born 30 January 1987) is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League (AFL). Franklin has played for the Hawthorn Football Club since his AFL debut in 2005.
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Lance Franklin was born in Perth to parents Urshula and Lance snr. His Noongar heritage stems from his mother's side. His grandmother was a Kickett.[2] Sport runs through the family. Franklin Snr, represented his state in Hockey.[3]. Two siblings, both sisters played netball while Bianca Franklin is a notable netballer.[4].
Franklin moved at an early age to Dowerin, Western Australia and later attended school at Wesley College.[1] He played one senior game for the Perth Demons in 2004[5] and represented WA at the national under 18s carnival.
After attending Draft Camp and showing promise Hawthorn selected him with their second pick, number five overall, in the 2004 AFL Draft.
Debuting in Round 1 of the 2005 season, Franklin had a strong presence up forward and played 20 out of 22 games.
After injuring an ankle and a hand early in the 2006 season, he returned thru the Victorian Football League for his first AFL game of the season in Round 9 against Sydney. In Round 12, Buddy produced a 6 goal haul against Richmond.
On the 13 July 2006 "Buddy" signed a new two year deal with Hawthorn, after being linked with clubs such as Essendon, West Coast and Fremantle. Another bag of 6 late in the season prompted predictions of Franklin to be the next big name forward in the AFL.[1]
Franklin had his best season so far in 2007, finishing the home and away season with 63 goals, putting him 3rd in the Coleman medal tally behind runner up Matthew Pavlich of Fremantle and the season's Coleman medalist Jonathan Brown of Brisbane.
Franklin's tally included 9 goals in Hawthorn's win against Essendon in round 6. However, in Round 21 against the Western Bulldogs, Lance kicked a record 11 behinds with his 2 goals. Only Jack Titus and St Kilda's Dave McNamara have kicked more behinds in a game without managing more than 2 goals. However, despite Franklin's inaccuracy, Hawthorn still won the match.
In the 1st elimination final of 2007, the Hawks mounted a big comeback in the second half against Adelaide. Big "Buddy" was instrumental in the win, kicking 7 goals on his finals debut including the winning goal, from outside 50 metres with just 7 seconds left on the clock. Hawthorn were eliminated out of the Finals the following week by North Melbourne.
In this year Franklin established himself as one of the pre-eminent players in the AFL, and was the recipient of the Coleman Medal with 102 goals in the home-and-away season. His season-high of 9 goals came against Essendon in round 11.
Franklin kicked his 100th goal for the home-and-away season against Carlton in round 22, becoming the first in a decade to kick 100 goals in the AFL home-and-away season (Tony Lockett in 1998). It was estimated that between 5-8 thousand supporters stormed the field and formed a massive huddle around Franklin, who was shortly ushered off the field into the change rooms until the ground had cleared. Prior to the match, the AFL had warned of a $6000 fine for every individual who jumped the fence; evidently this was not a concern for the thousands who did just that; an AFL tradition that will live on.[6] He also was the first aboriginal player to achieve this[7]. Franklin became the first Hawthorn player since Jason Dunstall in 1996 to reach 100 goals in a season. He then added to that by kicking another 8 in the qualifying final against the Western Bulldogs to tie the record of goals kicked by a Hawthorn player in a finals match. Hawthorn were the crowned premiers in the 2008 AFL Grand Final and, while Franklin did not have a dominant grand final match, he received the Peter Crimmins Medal (Hawthorn's best and fairest) a week later for his consistent and high-level season.[8]
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Goals | Behinds | Kicks | Marks | Handballs | Disposals | Pills Popped | Lines Snorted | Joints Smoked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Hawthorn | 38 | 20 | 21 | 13 | 140 | 75 | 73 | 213 | 35 | 55 | 49 |
| 2006 | Hawthorn | 23 | 14 | 31 | 9 | 98 | 53 | 58 | 156 | 95 | 80 | 90 |
| 2007 | Hawthorn | 23 | 22 | 73 | 62 | 201 | 123 | 92 | 293 | 186 | 142 | 111 |
| 2008 | Hawthorn | 23 | 25 | 113 | 88 | 281 | 145 | 67 | 348 | 928 | 609 | 93 |
| Totals | 81 | 238 | 172 | 720 | 396 | 290 | 1010 | 1244 | 826 | 343 | ||
| Preceded by Jonathan Brown |
Coleman Medallist 2008 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Brad Sewell |
Peter Crimmins Medallist 2008 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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